( 26 reviews )
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Posted: 08-05-2009
I initially bought this little gem a few months ago for a Canon S5IS. It worked well - sharp, clear results at the S5's higher focal lengths with an increase in maximum optical zoom from the built-in 12X to around 20X, without seeming to slow its speed. At the camera's lower focal lengths, below 7X or so, there's a tunneling effect in which the sides of the Sony's tube are visible. But I expected that, and it's hardly a negative. I bought this to increase maximum zoom, not to use at lower focal lengths. Very satisfied! DSLR Application: I also use an Olympus DSLR with one of its lenses being a 40-150mm kit zoom threaded for 58mm front filters. Hmmmm, I thought, perhaps the Sony VLC-DH1758 might work here as well. Mounting was easy and felt relatively stable. Photo use was outstanding! No tunneling anywhere, sharp clear results with minimal CA, and a nice focal length increase. Auto-focus and metering worked seamlessly in every mode I tried. Since Olympus builds image stabilization into the camera body (not the lens), camera shake wasn't a problem. Finally, though it's not really logical, the speed of the lens actually seemed faster with the converter mounted than without it. A Few Negatives: 1 -- At full extension, the combination reaches out about 8 inches from the Olympus body and needs a hand under the middle to support it. 2 -- It takes some time to hook everything together. 3 -- It's probably not good to wag it around fast to capture a hunting falcon -- something expensive could break. 4 -- There's no pro or con guidance - I've not seen this potential DSLR application mentioned anywhere. Bottom Line: For occasional use where higher optical zoom is desired, and fast camera movement isn't needed, I think this could be a nice added application for the Sony tele-conversion lens. It's far from perfect, but especially for folks with a DSLR lens that accepts 58mm filters, it sure beats spending many hundreds of dollars for a new lens with equivalent zoom range if you just need it occasionally. However, if you're a dedicated birder, need OEM ruggedness, or don't want to deal with the risk of something breaking, ignore this suggestion entirely!
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Posted: 02-10-2009
I recently bought this lens for a fuji s100fs camera. It works pretty well on this camera. I had to use a 67-58 step-down adaptor ring for it to adapt on the camera and due to vignetting at the wide angle it is not too useful until I zoom to about 200mm. But from 200-400 it is nice and clear. I have already gotten some real good moon shots with this combination and am looking forward to using it for pictures of birds. It is light enough to not be too heavy on my camera when fully zoomed. It is not advertised for this camera much but it works really well. I think Sony is putting some good glass in these tcons for the money.Fujifilm Finepix S100fs 11.1MP Digital Camera with 14.3x Wide Angle Dual Image Stabilized Optical Zoom
